The pet food market is always swamped with new brands and products popping up every day so making a choice based on factors such as nutritional value, affordability, and others can become challenging and thatās why we are introducing two of the most popular pet food brands, Hillās Science Diet and Royal Canin that have created a name for themselves.
These brands are our area of focus for this segment not just because they are both aesthetically pleasing, but because they are also very nutritious and delicious.
Within the course of this article, all your questions about dog and cat diet will be answered. you will also learn how to pick the best pet food brand for your pet. So what are we waiting for? let’s begin!
letās have a little faceoff to compare both brands to ascertain which one has more nutritional value and best suits your dogs and/or cats at various stages of life.
After you are done with this awesome comparison check out Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin here to see the different flavors and pricing.
Contents:
- š¤ Hills Science Diet vs Royal Canin FAQ
- āļø Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin Pros and Cons
- š» Types Of Pet Food
- š„ Nutritional Value Comparison
- š° Price Comparison
- š¤¤ Ingredients and Flavors
- š” About Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin
- š Product Safety and Recalls through History
- š Hills Science Diet Vs Royal Canin: And the winner goes toā¦
āļø Leslie’s Quick Picks!
Royal Canin:
Best Dog Food (Dry) |  |
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Best Dog Food (Wet) |  |
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Best Cat Food (Dry) |  |
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Best Cat Food (Wet) |  |
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Hill’s Science Diet:
Best Dog Food (Dry) |  |
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Best Dog Food (Wet) |  |
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Best Cat Food (Dry) |  |
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Best Cat Food (Wet) |  |
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š¤Hills Science Diet vs Royal Canin FAQ
What is guaranteed analysis?
The concept of guaranteed analysis on pet food products is to assure purchasers of the precise nutrient content of each consumable. Emphasized by AAFCO, guaranteed analysis by food labels must meet certain requirements such as an exact value for the minimum percentage of crude protein and fat, as well as the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture on the basis of dry matter obtained. All of the percentages that I use in this comparison are averages of dry matter basis. Learn about dry matter basis here.
Which one has more protein?
Royal Canin has more protein than Hillās Science Diet across most food type while Hills Science Diet leads on dry cat foods. Dry cat food of Hill Science Diet has 1.8% more protein than the Royal Canin dry cat food.
Which one is cheaper?
Hills Science Diet is cheaper, whereas Royal Canin is still considered to be quite affordable.
Which one has more flavor?
Royal Canin has 273 flavors while Hills science diet has 134 flavors for both cats and dogs
Which one has received more recalls?
The Hills Science Diet brand has been recalled just once whereas the Royal Canin has had three different recalls since its inception.
Check out the current prices, recipes, and flavors for Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin
āļøHills Science Diet and Royal Canin Pros and Cons
Hills Science diet Pros:
Hills Science diet Cons:
Royal Canin pros:
Royal Canin cons:
š» Types Of Pet Food From Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin
| Product (Dog Food) | Hillās Science Diet | Royal Canin |
| Dry Food | 52 recipes | 129 recipes |
| Wet Food | 30 recipes | 37 recipes |
| Treats | 15 treats | 5 treats |
| Product (Cat Food) | ||
| Dry Food | 18 recipes | 52 recipes |
| Wet Food | 19 recipes | 45 recipes |
| Treats | ā | 5 treats |
| š» see all Hills Science Diet recipes | š» See all Royal Canin recipes |
These brands have so many variants to offer, the 3 categories of food types are wet foods, dry foods and treats.
Royal Canin has 273 recipes in total and over 100 of those recipes are devoted to only dry dog food.
It seems the Royal Canin brand favors our canine friends a lot but then same can be said for the Hillās Science Diet that uses 50 out of its 137 recipes for dry dog food formulations only.
However, both brands have a good number of variants for cat foods as well as treat which is great for highly selective pets with a sensitive digestive system.
š„ Nutritional Value Comparison: Hills Science Diet vs Royal Canin
Food is a major aspect of pet care and as such getting the nutrients that is just perfect for your dogs and cat is very vital.
To achieve this goal, every pet owner needs to understand fully the nutritional needs of their pet because our pets have varying nutritional requirements, feeding styles and responses.
The nutritional value of every pet food is expressed by its nutritional content. A guaranteed analysis of the nutritional content of any pet food is clearly spelt out on the label of the pet food product as demanded by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).
The analysis provides the guaranteed analysis in percentages for crude protein, crude fat, and percentage of crude fibre as well as water composition.
It is important to carefully study and understand this information if you want your pets to have meals that nourish and boost their immune system while mitigating every possibility of infection.
| Hillās Science Diet | Protein (dry) | Protein(wet) | Fat (dry) | Fat(wet) | Fiber (dry) | Fiber (wet) |
| Dog | 24.5% | 25.8% | 14.8% | 17.1% | 4.3% | 3.3% |
| Cat | 35.2% | 38.5.5% | 18.3% | 22.0% | 5.8% | 4.4% |
| Royal Canin | ||||||
| Dog | 26.5% | 29.8% | 15.4% | 15.7% | 5.3% | 10.5% |
| Cat | 33.4% | 45.4% | 14.8% | 14.1% | 7.2% | 10.7% |
Protein
Proteins are essential nutrients in every petsā diet and can be obtained from meat such as chicken or beef. They are so important in a petās diet that the entire physiological functioning of the canine and feline body system depends on it.
The percentage of protein required by dogs and cats depends on their species, life stage and activity level, as well as the quality and digestibility of protein in their food.
Cats generally require more protein because of their protein metabolism differences.
Royal Canin has more protein than Hillās Science Diet for all foods except for dry cat food.
Fat Content
Fats are concentrated forms of energy. Dietary fats are either plant or animal-based fats that supplies the body with essential amino acids such as omega-3 and omega 6.
Fats are not only required for the proper development and functioning of body cells, tissues, nerves and muscles but also a healthy reproductive system in dogs and cats.
Hillās Science Diet provides more fat than Royal Canin across all foods except for dry dog foods where it offers 0.6% less fat than the Royal Canin dry dog foods.
Fibre Content
The Royal Canin brand provides significantly high amounts of fibre compared to the Hillās Science Diet brand.
š° Price Comparison
Not only do the bags or cans of pet food come in different sizes, but their costs also vary greatly.
If you are a pet owner on a very tight budget (especially if you have large breeds or multiple dogs and cats), but also do not want to purchase extremely cheap, poor quality pet food.
Hereās a tip – read through the nutritional value of the product and use the average cost per calories or average cost per pound of the product instead of the price written on the price tag of the product.
This would give you an exact estimate of how much you are likely to spend on pet food periodically.
Hereās a tables showing the price comparisons between the Hillās science diet brand and the Royal Canin.
| Dog Food | HSD (dry) | HSD (wet) | RC (dry) | RC (wet) |
| Per pound | $1.99 | $3.24 | $3.71 | $4.70 |
| Per calorie | $0.0012 | $0.0078 | $0.0022 | $0.0107 |
| Cat Food | HSD (dry) | HSD (wet) | RC (dry) | RC (wet) |
| Per pound | $2.90 | $4.73 | $5.17 | $7.17 |
| Per Calorie | $0.0017 | $0.0100 | $0.0031 | $0.0195 |
There is little to no difference in the prices of both pet food brands, however, Hillās Science Diet looks cheaper.
So where is the best place to purchase these brands? Good question! Overall, chewy.com has the cheapest prices.
They also offer 30% on your first autoship order which saves you a good chunk of change and makes your pet food ordering process automatic. Overall, this has saved me a ton of time.
š¤¤ Ingredients and Flavors
Both brands have so many flavors resulting from the ingredients they use for their recipe formulation.
Hills Science Diet
This brand offers about 137 recipes and they are formulated using quality ingredients such as chicken, pea protein, corn flour, pork plasma, wheat gluten, tomato pomace, brewers rice, pork by-product, soybean, and others
Popular Flavors
- Lamb meal and brown rice
- Chicken meal and barley recipe
- Liver and chicken entree
Royal Canin
Royal Canin is an exceptional brand with so many recipes. This brand uses premium quality, brewers rice, brewers rice, brewers rice flour, corn, wheat gluten, brewers rice, chicken fat, natural flavors, corn gluten meal, dried plain beet pulp, vegetable oil, fish oil, and others.
Popular flavors
- Ultamino dry dog food
- Hydrolyzed protein adult HP dry dog food
- Mini toy indoor adult
- Renal support E
- Hypoallergenic hydrolyzed protein
Check out the current Hills Science diet and Royal Canin recipes here.
š” About Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin
Hills Science Diet Information
Hills Science Diet takes pet health to a whole new level with its delectable ingredients and a combination of the best edible elements to make up a jolly wonderland for pets. The brand takes nutrition very seriously and is committed to providing adequate levels of major food groups such as protein, Fat, and Fiber.
The brand was founded in the 1960s and owned by Colgate-palmolive with headquarters in Topeka-Kansas, U.S.
What makes this brand so special? Some of its products were manufactured specifically as health formulas to aid the digestive system and to improve general health and mobility in both canines and felines.
Royal Canin Information
The Royal Canin brand was brought into existence by french veterinary surgeon jean Cathary as a pet food brand that caters solely to the nutritional needs of pets, specifically canines and felines. The brand is currently owned by Mars Inc and distributes quality pet food meals to countries all over the world.
The brand has made its mark in the production of meals suited for puppies, adult and and pro Adult stages which gives it versatility and credibility.
š Product Safety and Recalls through History
Companies make scheduled recalls on products that may have a foreseen defect or safety issues.
The importance of a recall is to conduct further safety tests in order to effect changes to product to ensure that it is safe for use.
Hills Science Diet Recalls
- Jan. 31st, 2019 – Increased levels of Vitamin D
Royal Canin Recalls
- May 11th, 2007 – Melamine contamination risk
- April 19th, 2007 – Melamine contamination risk
- Feb. 2nd, 2006 – High level of vitamin D3
šHills Science Diet Vs Royal Canin : And the winner goes toā¦
From the information and analysis reported so far, both brands are really great product but Royal Canin has a bit more edge as ābrand of choiceā when it comes to Nutritional values, that is if you do not mind spending a little more than you budget for pet foods.
- š„Get the best prices on Royal Canin right here
- š„Get the best prices on Hills Science Diet right here
| If you want | Then you should choose |
| Higher levels of protein | Royal canin |
| A cost effective option | Hills Science Diet |
| A wider variety of flavors and ingredients | Royal Canin |
| Safety, based on number of recalls | Hills Science Diet |
| A balanced diet for all age levels | Both brands |
References:
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/hills-science-diet-grain-free/
Pork by-products as the first ingredient in Hill’s is a giant red flag, along with the corn and other grains.
My 5 year old miniature schnauzer was recently diagnosed with diabetes and the Dr. Suggested I change her from Royal Canin (digestive) to Hills W/D. is there something in the Royal Cain that would be contraindicated and thus bad for the diabetes? I would prefer to stay with the Royal Canin if it would be safe for her. What is you opinion?